Committee on the Rights of the Child

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report of Paraguay, adopted by the Committee at its sixty-first session (17 September–5 October 2012)

The State party is invited to submit additional, updated information in writing (a maximum of 15 pages), if possible before 24 May 2013.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

1.Please provide the Committee with information on the application of Act 3156/06 and on the progress made towards definitively putting an end to the practice of forging birth certificates and “direct registration” of children using false information, together with information on the monitoring mechanisms in place in the State party to ensure that no one under the age of 18 may join the armed forces using forged documentation. Please clarify which documents are considered reliable and are used to ascertain the age of those who join the armed forces, in particular in the case of children who do not have a birth certificate, and describe the efforts made by the State party to ensure that all children are registered immediately after birth.

2.Please provide the Committee with disaggregated data (broken down by sex, age, ethnic identity and urban or rural origin) on the students attending military schools and military training centres run by the armed forces. Please provide information on the right of students to withdraw from such schools at any time and to give up a military career, together with information on the methods used to enforce discipline in such schools and on monitoring by the Secretariat for Children and Adolescents. Please also provide information on whether a complaints mechanism is available to students in such training centres.

3.Please describe to the Committee the role played by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) in military schools and military training centres in respect of the overall education provided by them and in supervising and monitoring subjects taught as part of the curriculum under the heading “civilian studies”. Please provide further information on the human rights and humanitarian law content in the curriculum of military and civilian studies, as referred to in the State party’s report, and in particular on whether the Convention and the provisions of its Optional Protocols are covered. Please provide the Committee with information on the training given to teachers in military academies on the provisions of the Optional Protocol. Please clarify whether the military training given to children under the age of 18 in educational centres run by the armed forces includes training with any type of weapon.

4.Please provide information on what steps the State party plans to take to ensure compliance with the Optional Protocol in respect of explicitly criminalizing the recruitment or use of children under the age of 18 years by non-State armed groups such as the Paraguayan People’s Army, referred to in the State party’s initial report, or by private security and protection firms.

5.Please provide additional information on:

(a)The activities carried out to disseminate and provide training on the Optional Protocol to members of the armed forces, apart from any training received by those of them involved in peacekeeping operations;

(b)Activities to heighten awareness in society at large, and in particular among children and their parents, in order to reduce the involvement of children with the armed forces, such as the frequent participation of children in military parades, and to disseminate and promote a culture of peace.

6.In relation to the specific cases brought to the attention of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights concerning the involvement of children and adolescents in the armed forces, please provide further updated information on the State’s compliance with investigations pending in respect of the complaints, as well as on its compliance with the decisions of the Court. Please inform the Committee whether, apart from the cases being considered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, there are any other cases and what investigations have been carried out by the State party.

7.Please explain how access to firearms is regulated within the State party. Please also provide information on the rules that apply to the manufacture, sale and distribution of small arms and other types of weapon. Please inform the Committee whether there is any domestic system of control over the sale of firearms in respect of the country of final destination, for example if in such countries children are or may be recruited or used in conflicts.

8.Please provide the Committee with information on the procedures used to identify as quickly as possible any child refugees, asylum seekers or migrants who have been or are at risk of being recruited or used in conflicts. Please also identify the rehabilitation services available to such children.